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Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills
you need navigate the amazing, confusing world of special education.

Highlights:
Reading and research; double-dipping - kids with disabilities and Title
I reading programs; effective methods to teach reading; teaching adolescents
to read; teaching late bloomers; retention as an intervention; caselaw
about reading; Wrightslaw programs in VA & OK; find help in the Yellow
Pages for Kids.

Quote of the Week: "Difficulty
in learning to read crushes the excitement and love for learning which
most children have when they enter school." - G. Reid Lyon

Most children with disabilities have significant deficits in reading. These
children need research-based
instruction that targets their reading problems. But most children do
not receive research-based reading instruction so they do not learn to read
proficiently.

In this issue, we look at reading
and research based instruction.
Research psychologist Reid Lyon is Chief of the Child Development and Behavior
Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National
Institutes of Health. Dr. Lyon answers questions about reading research,
myths, late bloomers, teaching adolescents, and retention.

2.
Double-Dipping? Are Kids with Disabilities Barred from Title
I Reading Programs?

"I
work as a speech therapist for a public school system. We have been told
that students may not have Title I reading resource and special ed goals
in reading because this is "double-dipping" into federal monies.
Is this true?"

3.
What Works in Teaching Children to Read?
"Whole language" is embraced by some, cursed by many. For whom
is it appropriate and for whom is it inappropriate? (Is it possible to tell
in advance for whom it will work or won't work?)

4.
Teaching
Adolescents to Read & How to Teach Reading in Middle & High School

"What
reading programs and/or strategies do you recommend for high school students
who are reading at 3rd grade level?"

In
Teaching
Adolescents to Read, Dr. Lyon writes, "You asked a critical question
that is on the minds of many teachers and parents. Learning to read at
age 6 or age 16 requires that students master all
fundamental building blocks vital to reading comprehension . . ."
Read
article.Go
to the Reading
Library for reliable information about reading, reading disabilities,
research-based reading programs, law and caselaw, certified language therapists,
and more.

5.
Late
Bloomers: Are We Teaching Kids to Read Before They Are Ready?

"I
am concerned about beginning reading instruction at earlier ages. What
about the 'late bloomer' whose cognitive skills are set by nature and
will NOT be rushed, who is ready to read in the last half of Grade 1 ...
or not until Grade 2, or Grade 3? By that time, reading instruction may
be two years' beyond these kids, and they are 'left behind.'"

6.
Is
Retention an Appropriate Intervention?
"Retention is a commonly used reading intervention. Do you see retention
as an appropriate intervention? Please explain the scientific evidence supporting
retention as an intervention."

Read Is
Retention an Appropriate Intervention? to find out why
Dr. Lyon says "Retention is hard to study experimentally because
this is not a condition you can do randomized trials with - NOR WOULD
YOU WANT TO!!!"

Yellow
Pages Flyers are great to distribute at conferences, seminars, training
programs, and workshops. Forward flyers
to friends and family members who live in other states. Access all state
flyers.

10.
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